Tired of not being able to answer the simple query, “how are you?” without sighing? Ken Davenport and AnnMarie Milazzo may have an answer. Their creation Joy: A New True Musical is a type of musical optimism that has audience members returning from intermission wearing the freshly-purchased official T-shirt. Its message of resolve and imagination envelops people in a purple and yellow cloud that even has them warmly hugging the mops they’ve been handed by the ensemble.
You may be familiar with Joy Mangano from her book “Inventing Joy: Dare to Build a Brave & Creative Life,” from seeing the 2015 movie simply entitled “Joy,” or maybe even from buying her products through the QVC home shopping network. She was a young mother with a house full of people depending on her when she was suddenly laid off from a steady if uninspiring job. In other words, she had much in common with women around the country who are behind in their mortgage and anxious to fully provide for their families. Using a combination of vivid imagination, determination, and a few lucky breaks, she turned her life around.
The musical retelling of her tale stars the dynamic Betsy Wolfe, who gained a wide range of fans with her Broadway turns in Waitress and & Juliet. She’s surrounded by an accomplished cast including Adam Grupper as her well intentioned father Rudy, Jill Abramovitz as her overly cautious mother Toots, and Honor Blue Savage as the daughter Christie who only wants Mom to be able to come to her games. Along her road to success she has dealings with Paul Whitty’s underhanded Cowboy Eddie, and Charl Brown’s experienced network exec Dan, both of whom are given showy performance numbers.
It is easy to see why Wolfe is so popular that she gets a round of applause before she opens her mouth. Her very presence fills the house and she sings with much appreciated clarity and emotion. Milazzo’s score isn’t the most varied and the refrains bleed into one another, but it is tuneful, carried along by Andy Einhorn’s arrangements. The opening “Welcome to My World” does some heavy lifting, rapidly introducing us to a number of important characters and plot points. The book by Davenport is considerably more assured than Hollywood’s interpretation of Mangano’s biography. Filled with broad humor that makes a point, the plot gets bogged down in the second Act in part because it’s hard to top the momentum of Act I.
Director Lorin Latarro uses her actors and limited space well, giving us glimpses of Bigger Show potential. Likewise the choreography of Joshua Bergasse is muffled by shoulder shrugs and knee bends when it could eventually soar. The creative team has also delivered with vision but to scale. Scenic designer Anna Louizos takes a lesson from the TV studios that brought Joy fame, filling a generic cityscape proscenium with small rolling set pieces. Also taking a cue from television is David Bengali whose projections are critical to the storytelling. Clever props including the co-staring Miracle Mop are designed by Andrew Diaz. Tina McCartney lets a few key outfits shine, and keeps the rest timely and simple. Liz Printz’s wigs and hair design age the lively Abramovitz and allow the ensemble to cover myriad roles. Shout out to House Manager Dovber Dier and the incredible organization of the venue staff.
Who doesn’t welcome an upbeat story of success under trying circumstances? Sure to be a crowd pleaser, the show is exactly what you’d expect from something called Joy: A New True Musical. Performances are at the Laura Pels Theatre at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, 111 West 46th Street near 6th Avenue. Running time is 2 hours including a 15 minute intermission. The limited engagement is currently scheduled to end on August 17. For more information and tickets starting at $72, visit https://joythemusical.com/.
The Unforgettable Line 